Tag Archives: Texas Republican Party

During the 2014 campaign Texas Governor-Elect, Attorney General Greg Abbott said gave this as his current job’s description…

“I wake up. I sue Obama. I go home.”

Even as he prepares to assume the state’s highest office, Abbott still has time to file yet another frivolous lawsuit claiming that the President’s Executive Action on Immigration is somehow in violation of the United States Constitution. Here’s more on the news from Michele Richinick of MSNBC…

Republican Attorney General Greg Abbott and governor-elect of Texas said that his state’s immigration lawsuit against President Barack Obama is to prevent executive actions from causing “harm” to the U.S. Constitution.

Seventeen states, including Texas, filed a joint lawsuit against the White House on Wednesday for its executive actions. Abbott, who will replace current Gov. Rick Perry next month, is leading the legal action. He previously cited his beliefs that the country’s immigration system is “broken,” and that the Constitution says the immigration policy must be fixed by Congress, not by presidents.

“What we’re suing for is actually the greater harm, and that is harm to the Constitution by empowering the president of the United States to enact legislation on his own without going through Congress,” Abbott told NBC News’ Chuck Todd Sunday on “Meet the Press.” He continues to argue that the president’s actions will inspire a fresh wave of undocumented immigrants into the country.

The only problem with Abbott’s argument?? President Obama is not enacting any legislation of any kind. He has not halted deportations, or granted any form of citizenship to undocumented persons. The Executive Action has simply created a more logical way to deal with the reality of people that are already here.

Given his new job next month, perhaps the Governor Elect needs to brush up the skills of being an executive. Continuing to throw useless lawsuits at Obama does not instill confidence that Mr. Abbott is ready to assume the new job.

However, it could get him into hot water with a large part of his statewide constituency, as Alexa Ura of the Texas Tribune reports…

Along with his 20-point margin of victory, Gov.-elect Greg Abbott accomplished something on Election Day that many naysayers doubted the Republican could: He took 44 percent of the Hispanic vote.

For Texas conservatives, Abbott’s performance indicated that Republicans are making headway among this increasingly crucial voting bloc, which tends to lean Democratic. But upon taking office, Abbott will find himself in turbulent political waters.

[…]

Abbott, the current attorney general, had to fulfill a campaign promise by filing a lawsuit challenging President Obama’s executive order protecting up to five million undocumented immigrants, including half a million Texans, from deportation.

“By winning the election and being successful among Hispanics in a low-turnout election, Greg Abbott has not solved the fundamental problem that he has politically,” said Jim Henson, a Texas Tribune pollster and director of the Texas Politics Project at the University of Texas at Austin.

The thorniest issue Abbott may face is a proposed repeal of the so-called Texas DREAM Act, which allows some undocumented students to pay in-state tuition at public universities and community colleges.

For most of his campaign, Abbott avoided taking a definitive stance on the act. He urged reform of the program, not a repeal. In a September debate with his Democratic opponent, state Sen. Wendy Davis, Abbott said he would not veto a repeal of the tuition law if it reached his desk.

Campaign promise or not, why would Abbott, now safely on his way to office, choose to take step guaranteed to divide many parts of the Texas Republican party? Simple… it’s because Abbott truly doesn’t believe in Immigration Reform. If he did, he would drop the act and let people know just how non-controversial and sensible the President’s actions are. Or at the very least, not spend the time and energy needed for this lawsuit.

Ask any politician their most favorite time of their political career, and they will likely tell you it was just after being elected. The grueling work of campaigning is done, and nothing but a bright future of what could be lies ahead. This is a time to make big plans, and go for bold ideas. But for the man set to lead the Lone Star State, that’s not what is happening. Instead of looking to a bigger and better future for Texas, Greg Abbott has decided to just play in the weeds of blanket Obama hatred like his predecessor. If first actions are any indication, the Greg Abbott version of Governor really be much the same as that under Rick Perry… maybe worse.